Husky Roster Review: Voi Tunuufi Is Man of Many Positions

When spring football ended, Voi Tunuufi stood for a photo with his fellow University of Washington defensive linemen, among them Tuli Letuligasenoa, the since-departed Siaosi Finau and Faatui Tuitele.

Tunuufi should have gathered all of the edge rushers around him, too, to capture another coming Husky moment in time.

If this were baseball, he would be considered a utility player; if it were basketball, he would be designated as a swingman.

Entering his third season in the UW football program, the 6-foot-1, 249-pound Tunuufi has become a player deemed capable of playing every position on the defensive line. Inside or out. Up or down.

His coaches say it's time to just wind up this proven playmaker from Utah and let him go, and it doesn't matter where.

"I think I'll be able to use my speed a lot more," Tunuufi said in March.

Going down the roster from No. 0 to 99, Tunuufi, who wears No. 52 all to himself, is next up in a series of profiles about each of the Huskies' scholarship players and assorted walk-ons, summing up their spring football performances and surmising what might come next for them.

Voi Tunuufi celebrates a Husky Stadium sack in 2022 while Zion Tupuola-Fetui (58) and Kam Fabiculanan (13) look on.

Voi Tunuufi provides opposition for a fellow Husky defensive lineman in this spring football drill in Dempsey Indoor.

When spring practice ended, Voi Tunuufi (52) hung out with fellow defensive tackles in Tuli Letuligasenoa, left; Siaosi Finau, second from left, who has left the team; and Faatui Tuitele (99).

Voi Tunuufi has been impressive in two Husky seasons, piling up 8 sacks while starting just two of 24 games.

Voi Tunuufi wears No. 52 now after pulling on Steve Emtman's famed No. 90 for two seasons, figuring the lower digits likely are more suitable for an edge rusher.

With fellow defensive linemen chiding him, Von Tunuufi goes the length of the field on and off his feet in an after-practice exercise for some minor indiscretion.

Playing Tunuufi everywhere across the front line in spring practice was the plan. Unfortunately, for all involved, he got injured midway through and, at least in the practice portions available for media viewing, he ended up taking turns only as a traditional defensive lineman.

Yet as a guy with 8 sacks in 24 games as a Husky — and doing this while coming out of a stance — the always tinkering UW coaches envision lining him up opposite Bralen Trice or Zion Tupuola-Fetui on the edge to see what happens.

"He's definitely a guy we feel, especially in certain game weeks, where he's better as an edge guy than as an interior guy," edge-rusher coach Eric Schmidt said, "and other weeks we really want to use him in there."

In 2022, the UW coaches often used him a lot in a third-down rush package against passing-minded teams, even when it wasn't third down, yet Tunuufi still was one of three defensive linemen coming out of a stance.

Standing him up on the edge would definitely be something new and interesting to see.

The bottom line is Tunuufi gets to the passer more than anyone currently on the roster not named Trice. He finished third on the team with 5 sacks last season, trailing only Trice (9) and the graduated Jeremiah Martin (8.5), who were first-team All-Pac-12 selections.

Even while a bit undersized, Tunuufi uses his great quickness and power to shake things up on the football field.

"He can be off the edge," Schmidt said. "He can be one of our top guys. He's got a lot of horsepower."

VOI TUNUUFI FILE

Service: He's appeared in 24 games, starting twice as a freshman against Stanford and Oregon in 2021. In the day and age of the sixth-year senior, of the guy who redshirted and got a pandemic freebie, Tunuufi stands to become someone who zips through the program in just four seasons.

Stats: In two seasons, Tunuufi has 8 sacks. He picked up 2 in his first college start against Stanford and another against Arizona State in 2021. Last season, he logged sacks against Portland State, Michigan State, Arizona, California and Texas. Consider that Tuitele and Letuligasenoa, the defensive-tackle starters, have 3.5 and 2 career sacks, respectively.

Role: Tunuufi could probably start at both defensive tackle, which he has, and at edge rusher. His only drawback appears to be size. Tuitele and Letuligasenoa, the DT starters, are both 50-plus pounds heavier than him, while Trice and ZTF, the edge starters, each have three inches of height on him. Still, the Huskies will continue to look for ways to get this guy on the field as much as possible.

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